Effects of Self-Efficacy and Teacher Autonomy on Thai EFL Pre-Service Teachers’ Online Teaching Practices During COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 outbreak has caused a major change in teaching methodology from traditional face- to- face to online instruction. However, most Thai teachers, especially pre-service teachers apparently lack essential knowledge and skills for online teaching and learning that might affect their capabilities and confidence in their own teaching when they are assigned to teach online courses. 
Adopting the conceptual framework of self-efficacy by Bandura ( 1997) and that of teacher autonomy by McGrath ( 2000) and Smith ( 2003) , this study focused on investigating how self- efficacy and teacher autonomy affected Thai preservice teachers’ teaching practices during the COVID- 19 pandemic. The participants were seven pre- service teachers majoring in English language teaching who had taught at
secondary schools in Pattani, Thailand. A case study approach was used in this study to collect data from multiple sources with qualitative methods including semi- structured interviews, teacher diaries and lesson plans.
The results show that the participants had moderate self- efficacy due to their limited experience in online teaching practices. In addition, their autonomy seemed to be low due to contextual constraints that controlled their online teaching practices. The study also suggests that educators must be aware that teachers need time and practice in online teaching to develop their self- efficacy and need to be trained about online teaching techniques, teaching management, and teacher autonomy in the online context.